Police investigate death of Miss. state legislator

MENDENHALL, Miss. (AP) - Authorities say they are investigating the apparent suicide of a state legislator in Mississippi.

Simpson County Sheriff Kenneth Lewis tells WLOX (
http://bit.ly/ZhXTa1) that Rep. Jessica Upshaw appeared to have shot herself in the head at a home in Mendenhall on Sunday. The town is about 30 miles southeast of Jackson, the state capital. She was 53.

The sheriff told The Clarion-Ledger (
http://on.thec-l.com/X1xwqe) that Upshaw was found at the home of former state Rep. Clint Rotenberry. He has not been arrested.

Upshaw was an attorney who had been a lawmaker since 2004. She was a Republican from Diamondhead along the state's coast. Mendenhall is about 110 miles away from her hometown.

The sheriff did not return a phone call from The Associated Press. Rotenberry did not answer his phone.

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